It calls upon states to inspect ships on the high seas if there are reasonable grounds to suspect it contains prohibited items.

US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley said "we are trying to prod North Korea to do the right thing", adding: "We are now acting to stop it from doing the wrong thing."

She added a strong relationship between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had played a role in negotiating the terms of the sanctions.

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STRANGLE: The sanctions are designed to effectively smash the North Korean economy

Inside North Korea: The pictures Kim Jong-un doesn't want you to see

Since 2008, photographer Eric Lafforgue ventured to North Korea six times. Thanks to digital memory cards, he was able to save photos that was forbidden to take inside the segregated state

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Eric Lafforgue/Exclusivepix Medi

Taking pictures in the DMZ is easy, but if you come too close to the soldiers, they stop you

It was the ninth sanctions resolution unanimously adopted by the 15-member Council since 2006 over North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

The United States watered down an initial tougher draft resolution to win the support of North Korea allies, China and Russia.

Textiles were North Korea's second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, totaling $752 million, according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Nearly 80% of the textile exports went to China.

This would hit the economy of North Korea hard, especially given most of the country's citizens live in poverty.

FORBIDDEN photos show the true North Korean army

While tourists are free to visit the secretive state as part of strictly controlled tour groups, they are told to never take photos of soldiers by their handlers. These images taken by photographer Eric Lafforgue show the truth behind North Korean military service: a life of hard physical labour with the perks of visits to the nation's capital

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ERIC LAFFORGUE/EXCLUSIVEPIX MEDI

Many soldiers are used as a labor force to compensate for the ineffective North Korean economy, so the army is not only about military organization.

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PASSED: US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley spoke as the sanctions were passed

“We are now acting to stop it from doing the wrong thing”

Nikki Haley, US ambassador to UN

The resolution also imposes a ban on condensates and natural gas liquids, a cap of 2 million barrels a year on refined petroleum products, and a cap on crude oil exports to North Korea at current levels. China supplies most of North Korea's crude.

A US official, familiar with the council negotiations and speaking on condition of anonymity, said North Korea imports 4.5 million barrels of refined petroleum products annually and 4 million barrels of crude oil.

North Korea INVADES southern neighbour in stunning mock attack

The North Korean People's Army takes part in a target-striking contest commanded by Kim Jong Un.

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REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides a target-striking contest of the special operation forces of the Korean People's Army to occupy islands

Peru also said on Monday that it was expelling North Korea's ambassador over the country's refusal to pay attention to the world's "constant calls" to end its nuclear program.

The ambassador, Kim Hak-Chol, has five days to leave the South American country, the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.